


Fighting Shadows

by SockLing



Series: They Were... [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Canon Trans Character, Drunk Ned, Jacob Might be a Masochist, M/M, Ned Curses Like a Sailor, Wye Ship, slightly unhealthy relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 10:50:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6076566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SockLing/pseuds/SockLing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ned is an honest drunk.</p><p>It's something Jacob learns late at night on the train, when Neddy boy spills a lot.  And Jacob realizes he might have some issues of his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fighting Shadows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bucky_barnes481](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bucky_barnes481/gifts).



> First, I would like to say that Ned and Jacob don't have the most healthy relationship in the world. "Love punches" are a thing for them, but in no way does this condone domestic abuse of any sort. Jacob finds it to be endearing, but he probably shouldn't be anyone's figurehead for mental and emotional stability in the first place. So know that Jacob does enjoy the punches, but in general, that is rarely - for there are masochists and carefully laid out play time - something to just accept in a relationship.
> 
> Second, a lot of this comes from the fact my roleplay buddy/best friend can't stop playing the Wye ship. So many headcanons, including "Ned is an honest drunk". So since I see so little of Wye ships around on here, expect more to be added because I never really understood OTP until I discovered them. Or I just love Ned too damn much, that glorious man.
> 
> This has also been rated M due to the gratuitous use of language mostly on Ned's part.
> 
> (Also, this is totally for you Ash because when do we ever get enough?)

Ned was an honest drunk.

Jacob was quickly learning this as the small man just kept knocking those drinks back and his words, while they never slurred or varied from his normal speech patterns, were becoming more… emotional? Emotional for Neddy boy, anyway. His expressions were the same - Jacob always got the same expressions from Ned for every little thing he did - but they seemed to be carved into his face as opposed to a fleeting afterthought of muscle memory. Currently, Ned had his nose wrinkled up in a snarl at his empty cup, and the empty bottle. “Goddammit.”

Jacob had to press his lips together to keep from laughing, but damn, it was so hard. Somehow, Ned managed to sound angered beyond belief and downtrodden at the same time. Maybe it was just another beautiful facet of the man he was still learning about. “Sorry, I’m afraid you’ve just drank the entirety of my good booze stash.”

“Asssssss.” Did he honestly just hiss? “Frye would have better shit than this, I know he would.”

…

Hold up, what?

Jacob furrowed his brows. “Ah… well, no, he wouldn’t?”

“Oh ho, I never underestimate that little bastard. He is the most persistent idiot I think I’ve ever met, and he knows about America now.”

The assassin stopped to scratch at the hair on his chin, going through a bit of an internal struggle right then. It was obvious that Ned was so drunk, he had no idea he was talking about Jacob to Jacob. On the one hand, he didn’t want Ned to say something that would upset the thief and put their relationship through another weird spot. But then again… _the truth_. What Ned really felt about him, his true feelings about the assassin and everything he’s told the smaller man. Right before he made his decision, he heard Ned sigh and keep going. “I wonder what that idiot saw when we met that made him so… frustratingly persistent.”

Well, Jacob _was_ going to have Ned lie down and leave him alone in his compartment on the train and just steal a spot in the dining car. But how could he resist such a question? Now to play this delicately. “He saw someone wickedly attractive, intelligent, and just all around amazing.”

Ned’s lip curled up at that, though Jacob could immediately tell it wasn’t his normal look of distaste. He wanted to reach over and smack that look off, or kiss it off, or something. He knew self-deprecation when he saw it, having seen it in his own mirror for many years. “I knew he was a fucking dumbass. I know I fell in love at first sight, but he’s fucking Jacob Frye.” Wait, slow down, go back. “All… roguish and devilish grins and something purely unlawful under those shirts. I’ve been itching to punch the face of every woman I’ve seen staring at him.”

That was nothing new. Jacob stopped to rub his own jaw, where a bruise was still healing. Ned was a surprisingly powerful little guy, having socked the assassin right in the jaw when he woke to Jacob standing near his bed in the middle of the night. Honestly, he hadn’t meant to just stand there like that, but Ned was already asleep and he was so damn gorgeous all curled up without his glasses and that weirdly sexy hat. But it was far from the first time he had been punched; it was practically a greeting from Ned.

Maybe it wasn’t the healthiest part of any relationship, to think of those hits as “love punches,” but Jacob wasn’t the healthiest person mentally in the first place. He saw how Ned treated others, how powerful he could be when he was really pissed off, and the punches Jacob got… it wasn’t that. They were barely taps at times, maybe a little more noticeable when he annoyed the small man, but he’d only been bruised when he truly scared Ned in the middle of the night.

Or that time things were getting cozy at Ned’s house and he had to go say something incredibly stupid about how he could barely tell anything was hiding under Ned’s clothes.

He didn’t like the silence that came with Ned putting distance between them to work on… whatever the hell you did when you ran a criminal empire.

Finally, he realized Ned had sunken into the seat in the silence and cleared his throat awkwardly. “I, ah… _he_ fell in love right then too, you know. Talks about how you were so confident and he really loves those smirks you get when you know you’re the one in charge. He kind of finds it sexy, actually.”

Ned snorted, which Jacob could barely tell sometimes if that was a laugh Ned style or a sound of derision. “Sexy?” Whyyyy did he sound so incredulous? Jacob honestly saw Ned as one of the sexiest men he’d ever met. Despite all his problems with himself, he held himself with such confidence and he could talk his way into or out of anything. Jacob had seen it first hand. Plus, what he was hiding under those clothes was incredibly delicious. Sure, he had never seen under the wrapping Ned used to bind and he honestly didn’t want to, but he had seen the man stripped down to his wrappings and trousers, beating the absolute shit out of brawlers in the fight club.

He had honestly done his best to just watch that face - which magically kept those glasses the whole time, it was fucking sorcery or something - but it was so incredible, watching the play of wiry muscles he had never seen until that point. Sure, he had mentioned before that he didn’t _need_ sex with Ned ever, but he knew that would be a recurring vision when he was alone completely in the train and had a moment to handle the more… intimate business matters.

… Jacob was starting to question his sanity when watching a man break noses and arms was a turn on.

A cough came from him; he really needed to stop fantasizing while he was still around Ned. “Yes, sexy. In weird ways that make Jacob question his own turn ons…”

“It’s not my fucking fault he gets all stupid with the love punches.” Holy shit, he called them love punches too! “And that damn idiotic grin. He thinks I never notice, but I always know. And I’m never sure how to fucking handle it so I just want to punch that stupid face of his. Making me feel shit.”

Jacob had to bite his lip, because for some reason this was hilarious. Only Ned would want to punch someone for giving him some sort of feeling. Then the small man sighed heavily and fell to his side on the loveseat, curling up. “You can’t say a damn word to him, but I do love the fucking idiot.”

Despite being called an idiot more times than he could count in such a short time, it was heartwarming. Ned did love him, in his own Neddy boy way. “Well, Jacob loves you too.”

“He fucking better.” Jacob couldn’t help the guffaw that left his mouth as Ned closed his eyes and practically passed out, he was asleep so quick. The larger man smiled and shook his head, then stood to move Ned to his bed and covered him up, very careful when he removed Ned’s glasses.

_“Ho-how did you keep your glasses on?” Ned fixed him with a bland expression, buttoning his shirt back on. “I don’t allow anyone to take them off.” Jacob’s brows furrowed. “But… but gravity…”_

_“No one takes off my glasses.”_

The memory made Jacob chuckle, setting the glasses down carefully. “Well Neddy boy, looks like someone just did.” He blew out the oil lamps and flopped onto the love seat, watching Ned sleep for a moment. A stupid grin stretched his lips and he heard the small man huff.

“Don’t grin like a goddamned idiot.”

“...”

Jacob stared in open shock at Ned for a moment, but realized his breathing indicated he was still deeply asleep. Just a little unsettled, he sat up to pull off his shirt to sleep better in the heat of the small compartment. “Still unlawful.”

Holy shit, Ned was _amazing_.


End file.
